Following a suggestion, ( 8) which was a great idea, why didn't I think of this??) this is the new quit smoking thread. You all have given some great advice and it will be good to have it all in one location. Especially if a newbie comes along and is interested in quitting. Who knows maybe we will come up in search engine on someone looking for help quitting. I am including the original thread links here also as there was a lot of helpful information there and you have all been very helpful. http://www.gardenstew.com/about7227.html http://www.gardenstew.com/about7409.html http://www.gardenstew.com/about7426.html http://www.gardenstew.com/about7432.html
Quick update... Day 5 is going ok so far. I lost most of yesterday somehow I thought today was day 4, that must be a good sign. Actually, I became so sleepy yesterday that I went to bed before the sun went down and slept until this morning. I feel kind of like I cheated, sleeping so long and not having to deal with the quitting issue. Anyway, I am diligently pursuing my quest and I will be victorious! I have been so far but I don't feel like celebrating as it has not been long enough. When do you know you are no longer a smoker and not just in the process of quitting? I think just as important as setting a date to quit I need to set a date to celebrate (not that every day is not a celebration) but I think it helps to set new goals now that this one is in progress, or am I jumping the gun?
I would celebrate EVERY DAY!! Just think how much healthier you are getting :-D Keep up the good work! Deanna :-D
You could celebrate at the end of each smoke free week by counting up just how much money you've saved!! Give yourself a little treat with your savings - a new plant, (I would think of that first ) a new item of clothing or make-up or even just something nice to eat.
Every morning you wake up as a non-smoker in progress is a day for celebrating. I celebrated in 10 day increments simply because as a smoker I would have bought a carton every 10 days. So for the first 3-4 months, I think it was, I would take $30 (the cost of a carton three years ago) and go either to the local yarn shop for knitting yarn, a hobby store for paints or a garden center for plants. Even tho that reward system wasn't needed after a few months, I still think of the yarn and plants I buy as a reward to myself. If I was still smoking I would have spent a minimum of $3300 on cigs over the last three years. That means a $100 trip to the yarn shop once or twice a year and a $50-$100 trip to a couple of garden centers 5 or 6 times a year is nothing to fret about.
I knew I had quit for good when I could stand next to someone who was smoking and not ask for one! Even though I wanted one!
Nightmares! I've been having insane nightmares since I started quitting, but the up-side is: I've been retiring and waking much earlier. Very peculiar. Anyone else ever get that? Another thing I noticed: I've been sewing my outfit for the big gig since Tuesday and, although I usually have a cigarette dutifully hanging from my lips during these projects, it's the only time I'm not wanting a puff. Maybe I'll spend the next few weeks working through the MOUNTAIN of outfits/alterations I've accumulated this year. :-D 8)
I found that if you can stay busy, especially with your hands, the easier it is. That's why I quit in the summer time. The weather was nice and I could be outside and stay busy. If I had tried it in the winter when I would have been in the house most of the time, I would have climbed the walls.
You are both doing great! Keep it up, and celebrate every day. The weekly reward system sounds effective too. I need to find something expensive I can quit doing. Want new plants.
I suppose it would be out of the question to have a smoke to celebrate? All joking aside, I am not completely smokeless but all in all have not had one whole cig at a time and not more than one total in 24 hours since aug 31. I don't feel like I am cheating, I just don't want to get to that point where I am going nuts. Believe it or not two puffs will take care of that urge for at least a few hours. I have discovered that my biggest trigger is talking on the phone. I really thought it would be with my morning coffee or after I eat but the times when I really want one is on the phone so.......I am staying off the phone as much as possible.It is not so much as want one one the phone as my brain is conditioned..talk on the phone/smoke a cigarette. I hope you guys don't feel like I lied when I said I was doing ok and didn't mention that I am not smoke free yet. I do feel like I am doing great. Last time I tried to quit, with patches, I would take the patch off, smoke a couple cig's and put the patch back on. Did this several times before I just gave up and started again. I don't think I will ever like not smoking because I like to but I am hoping I will feel better and have more energy. Right now I don't have much energy at all so anything will be an improvement. Geeze, I just read this and it is full of me trying to convince myself this quitting business is worth it. I can and I will. I believe I need to set a reward for myself when I have been completely smoke free for 30 days. That will be about $120.00. I am taking myself to the casino (I'll work on breaking that habit when this one is taken care of!)And believe me, if it wasn't so far to the casino I would be calling 1-800-I HAVE-A-PROBLEM. Distance alone takes care of that one. Now that I have bared my dirty soul I am going to go play pkoer on POGO. At least it is free. I did finish my gate I was going to work on while quitting and the blasted thing is so heavy it took two men to move it. I'll try and post a picture tomorrow. It is very rustic with spokes of an old wagon wheel in it. And a bell I picked up in Mexico last week. I am rambling like a fool needing a cigarette so I am going now. (struggle struggle) Thanks again for all the kind words of encouragement
Poor Desertflower, I do feel for you. The puffs will have to stop, you know that? If not, your system will never be nicotine-free, which is what you want. The first weeks are the hardest, so just think about the sweet-smelling, healthier, more energetic you at the other end of this ordeal. You will pull through this. You will!
You're now at the stage that your willpower has to be extra strong. I KNOW you will do it!! A little slip now and then is to be expected but you must try to avoid them as they are making things harder for you in the long run. I think you're doing soooo well but I also know you can do better. Just think of each ciggie as a coffin nail - in your coffin - and I'm sure you'll get the strength you need to leave those cancer sticks alone.
Yesterday evenings paper had an article about smoking and one statement surprised me. It said that every time you inhaled tobacco smoke, you took into your lungs 64 cancer causing agents. Not something you hear every day! You always hear about smoking being bad for you, but you don't always hear why. What causes it to be bad for you? I don't know about every one else , but I don't always beleive a lot of what people tell me, including Drs. I want to see facts from research and make my own decisions.
DF, the nicotine was revving you up, it is a narcotic. Removing that narcotic from your system will cause tiredness and fatigue. Start drinking more water and taking some good MultiVitamins and the tiredness should go away in a few days. Take a nap when you get really tired, your body can use the down time to work on healing. Is the casino smoke-free? If not, you might want to make that trip after you have been smoke free for 60-90 days instead of only 30. It is good that you have cut back to no more than one per day. BUT the nicotine is still in control of your physical and mental needs. Having one a day is the same as wearing the patches, you still have nicotine in your body therefore your body is not being given the chance to clean itself of the narcotic so it can function normally again....it just gets started and wham there is that nicotine again so it has to start over. You have gotten yourself down to one per day for a week now is a good time to take that another step up...cut down to one a week. CK, I know what you mean about all the scare tactics used to make smokers quit. The doctor I used to go to was a fanatic about it, everything I went to see her about was related to my smoking. I kept expecting her to claim that the freckles I was born with were because my Dad was a smoker when I was conceived. I am just stubborn enough to dig in my heels and not do something when I am being harangued by someone about it.
